TikTok has announced that it has signed a joint venture agreement with a group of investors that will allow the company to continue operating in the United States and avoid a potential ban linked to its Chinese ownership.
The agreement brings an end to a prolonged standoff over the future of the video sharing platform in the world’s largest economy, where TikTok says it has more than 170 million users.
According to an internal memo seen by AFP, TikTok chief executive Shou Chew informed staff that the company and its Chinese parent firm ByteDance had agreed to create a new US based entity. The deal includes major investments from Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi based firm MGX.
Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison, a long time ally of US President Donald Trump, is among the key figures involved in the arrangement.
“The US joint venture will be responsible for US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance,” Chew said in the memo.
“It will also have the exclusive right and authority to provide assurances that content, software, and data for American users is secure,” he added.
Chew said half of the new US venture will be owned by a consortium of new investors, with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each holding 15 percent stakes. Affiliates of existing ByteDance investors will control just over 30 percent, while ByteDance itself will retain slightly under 20 percent, the maximum level of ownership permitted for a Chinese company under US law.
Under the arrangement, TikTok Global’s US entities will oversee global product interoperability and certain commercial operations, including e commerce, advertising and marketing.
Chew noted that further work remains ahead of the planned January 22 closing date for the deal. The agreement follows legislation passed under former US President Joe Biden requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban. US lawmakers have long raised national security concerns, warning that China could use the platform to collect data on Americans or influence public opinion through its algorithm.
Trump, who initially pushed for restrictions on TikTok during his first term, has since delayed enforcement of the law through a series of executive orders, most recently extending the deadline into January.
The deal largely confirms a White House announcement made in September, which said a new venture meeting the requirements of the 2024 law had been agreed.
“If I could make it 100 per cent MAGA, I would, but it’s not going to work out that way unfortunately,” Trump said at the time.
Trump had also publicly named Ellison as a central figure in the arrangement. Ellison has recently re emerged in the political and business spotlight through his ties with Trump, including involvement in major artificial intelligence partnerships and media acquisitions linked to his family.
China’s foreign ministry did not directly comment on the reported agreement. Spokesman Guo Jiakun reiterated that “China’s position on the TikTok issue is consistent and clear”.
ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, analysts described the deal as a compromise that preserves TikTok’s access to the lucrative US market.
“Keeping the US operation live is itself a victory” for ByteDance, Li Chengdong, founder of Chinese technology consultancy Dolphin, said. Li added that resolving the issue would allow ByteDance to focus on other priorities, including artificial intelligence projects, and could support plans for a future public listing.
Zhang Yi of research firm iiMedia said the US market remains “of paramount importance to TikTok” but cautioned that challenges may persist. “The US side could still leverage its regulatory power… to impose unfair demands on TikTok,” he said.
